Little Blessings
by Zoja
Summary: It was undoubtedly the best Christmas in his life. It had been a long while since he celebrated it back when he was a child and this year was not really an exception, something that would undoubtedly change soon, but nothing could possibly beat spending it with the most important people in his life; with a family that he had pretty much given up on having a long time ago. J/E


**A/N:** It's kind of funny that the first thing I've written in weeks is a result of my today's insomnia and was half-written in the middle of the night. I haven't forgotten about my series of missing scenes, I actually got to the middle of another one before my writer's block hit with full force again, but I'm fighting with it and I hope to win, soon! In the meantime, I hope you're going to enjoy this sweet little christmassy John/Elizabeth scene.

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It was undoubtedly the best Christmas in his life. It had been a long while since he celebrated it back when he was a child and this year was not really an exception, something that would undoubtedly change soon, but nothing could possibly beat spending it with the most important people in his life; with a family that he had pretty much given up on having a long time ago.

John smiled as he woke up in the morning and opened his eyes, his gaze falling on his wife. Even though he had been waking up to the view of her sleeping by his side for almost two years now, a part of him still couldn't believe it was true. He had been so certain he had lost her, any chance that he could possible get her back let alone be with her, and yet here she was. The day Lorne's team dialed in to get permission to come back with an additional person, causing quite a stir in the entire Stargate Command and stepping through the gate with their long lost friend in tow, was one of the best days in his life.

He knew he had been monopolizing her attention a bit, being one of two best suited people to help her get her memories back working as the perfect excuse. Most of the people didn't really pay attention to it though, probably because they were aware they had been close and it didn't seem like anything unusual that he would be so willing to help out one of his best friends. Everyone noticed a change in him after they had lost her, but only a few knew that he wasn't mourning a loss of a good friend - even though that too – but a loss of a person he loved. He was aware that over the years he began to care about her a bit more than was appropriate considering their working relationship, but it was only when she was hone that he realized the true extent of his feelings. Sometime over the three years he had fallen in love with her and losing her created a whole in his heart that didn't want to heal, no matter how much time had passed. He made a vow to himself that if there was any way he could bring her back, he would move heaven and earth to do that, but even he had actually began to lose hope at some point, especially after they brought Atlantis to Earth. He was sure that any chance he could possibly have remained in the Pegasus Galaxy, but he had never been more glad to be proven wrong and promised himself that he would never let her go again and do everything in his power to win her heart.

Much to his surprise, it turned out to be easier than he had expected. Apparently, he wasn't the only one that harbored these feelings; it was something he had actually found out before she regained all of her memories, before she remembered all the reasons why she kept them hidden and went back to keeping them at bay. Feelings were the first thing she actually remembered, or maybe not quite fully forgot, and her question whether they had been something more, the embarrassed explanation she had given him when he denied, filled him with more hope than he would ever dare to hold. He knew he had to wait, though; the idea of making any move before she would have her memories back and be fully herself once again felt extremely wrong and he would never take advantage of her this way.

When it finally happened, he didn't waste any time before he asked her out on a date. She was a bit hesitant at first, the old worries making themselves known, but she quickly realized that everything that stood in their way in the past was now gone and there was no reason why they shouldn't give it a try. Before she even realized, she was in so deep there was no going back. Some people claimed they were moving too fast, that they should wait and get to know each other better rather than getting engaged just half a year after their first date, getting married on the first anniversary of her return, but they paid them no mind. They had the three years in Atlantis, during which they got to know each other better than some people knew each other after much longer period of time; along with the three years when she was missing, presumed dead, they had lost six years and neither of them wanted to waste any more time. Their relationship might have not been perfect, they had their problems and clashes like any other couple, but they never doubted it was what they wanted.

"What time is it..?" her sleepy voice brought his attention back to the present and he turned around, glancing at the alarm clock on his bedside table.

"Just before six" he said and smiled when she just grumbled and moved closer, hiding her face in his chest as she snuggled up to him.

He wrapped his arm around her, holding her against himself and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. He knew she was exhausted, so was he for that matter, but he wasn't the one that had gone through eighteen hours of labour just a few days earlier and was up for feeding every couple of hours. He was doing his best to help out as much as he could, an action that seemed to have finally granted him her mother's approval, but he simply couldn't imagine it any other way. Being a father had always been his dream and it finally came true in the form of two tiny people sleeping in their cribs just a few feet away. No matter how hard it was at the moment, he couldn't have imagined a more wonderful gift than a chance to hold his son and his daughter in his arms.

"Few more minutes..." she murmured, and as if on cue, a loud wail came from one of the cribs. "Or not..."

"Stay" he spoke, kissing her forehead and slowly got out of the bed. "Easy, little guy. Nobody's gonna let you starve" he spoke as he picked his crying son up. Rocking him gently, trying to calm him down, he walked back to the bed and passed the boy to Elizabeth before he returned to get his much more patient sister.

"What?" she asked a moment later, looking up as she felt his gaze on her and found him sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her intently as she fed their son.

"Nothing" came his response and she just shook her head with a smile. She knew him well and she knew he could not really explain his feelings and what was on his mind, but the fact remained that he found it difficult to tear his eyes away from as she did that. "I love you, you know that?"

"I have a pretty good idea" she teased, smiling at him. "I love you too" she added, kissing him gently as she leaned closer when the time to switch the babies came.

If ten years ago someone had told her this was the life she would have at this point, she would have undoubtedly called them crazy. Most of her adult life she didn't think a family, especially children, were actually in her future. It was what happened to her in Pegasus and especially John that changed her perspective, made her realize that there was more to life than running after career. It was something she was extremely thankful for and she wouldn't have exchanged her life for anything.


End file.
